Pineapple mealybug and mealybug wilt
Leaf tips turn red, then yellow and pink, curl down and dry, while pink mealybugs hide at the base of the plant and on the roots.
Crops it attacks
Where the damage shows
When to act
Every month, check the base and roots of 5 plants at each of ten spots for pink mealybugs and the ants that tend them, and watch field edges for red leaf tips. Act when mealybugs turn up in several spots, and deal with the ants first. Once leaves wilt, that plant will not recover.
What to spray
- SpirotetramatIRAC 23ShopeeLazada
- ThiamethoxamIRAC 4AShopeeLazada
- ImidaclopridIRAC 4AShopeeLazada
- BuprofezinIRAC 16ShopeeLazada
- Mineral oilShopeeLazada
- PyriproxyfenIRAC 7CShopeeLazada
- MalathionIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
- DiazinonIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
- ChlorpyrifosIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
- DimethoateIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
- FenitrothionIRAC 1BShopeeLazada
Active ingredients only, never brands. The IRAC group tells how it works: switch to a different group next time, so the pest does not learn to survive it. Spray only when the damage is worth the cost, and only with products registered with the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority for your crop. Follow the label. The Shopee and Lazada links only show who sells something with that active ingredient, not a recommendation of any seller or product.
How to prevent it
- Plant only clean crowns, slips and suckers, and check their bases before planting.
- Control the ants, above all the big headed ant, with a registered ant bait around the blocks. Without ants the mealybugs stay few.
- Pull out and destroy wilted plants together with the plants beside them.
- Plow out old plants and remove crop residue fully before replanting, with a fallow when you can.
- Check field edges first, since spread starts there, and keep weeds and nearby hosts down.
Natural enemies and biological help
- Lady beetles such as Cryptolaemus, lacewings and small parasitic wasps eat mealybugs once the ants are kept away.
- Beauveria, Metarhizium and Lecanicillium fungi infect mealybugs in moist weather.
Not sure it is this one?
Many pests look alike. Send a photo to Anee, the smart farm technician in anee.io. She reads it with your crop, its age and the weather, and tells you what it most likely is and what to do first. In Tagalog or English.